Seven out of 10 most pirated movies not available for legal purchase in Australia

A NEW website shows Australians cannot buy seven out of the ten most popular pirated films, amid calls for more legal film downloading and streaming services.

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson National Technology Editor

News Corp AustraliaAugust 18, 201411:48am

Scarlett Johansson in Captain America: The Winter Soldier ... it’s the most pirated film this week but is not available for digital streaming in Australia. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

AUSTRALIANS still cannot purchase the movies they most want to watch even though legal online options are growing, according to a project launched this week.

New website caniwatchit.com.au, from Electronic Frontiers Australia, compares the top 10 most pirated movies via BitTorrent to their availability from Australian movie-streaming and download services.

While the most pirated film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, was available for rental and purchase in several stores, seven of the top 10 films could not legally be purchased, rented or streamed in Australia.

EFA executive officer Jon Lawrence said the comparison demonstrated a problem faced by Australian audiences who had shown a willingness to pay for digital content.

“The popularity of (US streaming service) Netflix, where people are using a technical workaround just to use it, shows that Australians are willing to pay for timely access to good content,” Mr Lawrence said.

“We’ve seen evidence from other countries that the most effective way is to make this content available in a timely manner at a reasonable price.”

The EFA’s website launched as one Australian provider, Presto (part-owned by publisher News Corp), halved the price of its movie-streaming service from $19.99 to $9.99 per month.

The price matches rival Quickflix, which dropped its monthly subscription price by $5 to $9.99 in April.

Presto director Shaun James said the company dropped its cost to provide a simple fee structure for new users and to appeal to a wider audience.

“This market is moving very quickly and very aggressively,” Mr James said.

“We haven’t been shy about our ambitions in Australia. We want to grow and we want to grow quickly.”

Mr James said Presto subscribers were accessing 2.5 to three hours of content every week, with 20 per cent watched on a TV using Google’s Chromecast device.

News Corp readers can access one month of free movies by going to presto.com.au/news and entering the promo code on the back page of their Sunday newspaper.